Wolf of Zero: Forming The Pack
by Kytranis
Summary: Saito learns that he is not as alone as he once thought he was, but he must teach pups to be wolves as a greater danger reveals itself to him and to the world. Can he take the heavy reigns of responsibility?
1. Discovery

Well here we go chapter one of part two. Let's get this train wreck underway shall we? By the way in case you are worried it is not Siesta/Saito you will have to wait and see what it is but do not make snap decisions!

"Speech"

//thoughts//

**Dramatic Stuff**

_Otherworldly stuff_

The Story.

"Saito why do my spells still keep failing? I mean they're not blowing up anymore but just fizzle out instead." Louise asked and Saito stretched a bit. It was a clear day and a couple weeks since the Fouquet and Rocket Launcher debacle so he was nice and relaxed.

"It could be any number of things but it's probably your mana reserves. You see Spiritual and Magical powers have a ton of parallels. To cut to the chase you're mana has an extra kick but you still burn through it to use magic. So you need to keep practicing spells to up how much mana you have. It's like a muscle, use it often and it's stronger for it and can be used more." Saito explained barely looking up from a rather thick history book he had been reading. He had once told her that the self glorification in that book both made him a little sick and made him laugh at the same time.

"Well, is there an exercise you can show me?" She asked and he sighed and picked up a glass on the side of his table taking a quick sip to moisten his tongue he gave a slight cough getting ready for a slight lecture.

"Yes however, you must listen. What I am about to show you is a universal ability known as ESP or Extra Sensory Perception. In this you are using your internal energy, Spirit in my case and Mana in yours to refocus one sense to change what angle and position you perceive from as well as see only the type of energy you are using to perceive this. Due to these effects I will be invisible to this sense and in this world it is utterly useless to me as I am the only living being with any spiritual power due to those moons threatening to blow up any other spirit user. To use it focus your mana into your eyes and close them, imagine your mana filling them up as if they were made of hollow glass and you were pouring water in through a small hole on top. Fill them up completely but do not let them overflow. When you have done this imagine your eyes leaving your head and flying around through walls, through the air unhindered by the physical and as fast as you desire. This will allow you to see from anything pertaining to magic from anywhere. However if one is more powerful then yourself then you may be blinded by the brightness of it so be cautious. Again I must stress that this exercise is about seeing magic. You will not see much in detail, think of it in a way that the only light you will perceive is magic itself. If it has no magic it will be in darkness." Saito explained before taking a bit of a breath. Hey it was a long speech. Louise blinked a few times.

"I'm sorry could you repeat that?" she asked and Saito face palmed and groaned. It was going to be one of those days, he could feel it.

After explaining it about three more times before she got everything again she was finally trying it for the first time. "Wow... this is so amazing..." Louise breathed as she no doubt had her eyes flowing everywhere. Saito's somewhat developed ability to sense mana could feel the eyes fly quickly out of range and no doubt all over the school. "Everyone has their own coloured light it's like they're made of fire..." Louise intoned utterly fascinated.

"Yea it is pretty hardcore isn't it?" Saito asked casually going back into his book.

"Yea it's totally bodacious." Louise said and he double blinked and sighed.

"I never should have explained surfer lingo." Saito muttered to himself turning the page sniffing in distain at the disgusting amount of lies and so called 'clever subtlety' which in truth was nothing but backbiting and murder. Like most Therians he valued the truth above his own feelings and would rather be told straight up that he was an ugly bastard then have someone walk around the subject like he was made of eggshells. He kinda like Guiche because of that, he was straightforward and bad at lying. Kirche too, she thought she was subtle and she was subtle a little less so then a chainsaw but still points for effort. Montrancy also tried to be subtle but like her beau had no luck at it. Their emotions might as well be neon signs hanging over top of them for how much self control these kids had.

Siesta though was in a league all her own. Sweet and kind there was no deception there, beautiful and graceful she was one hell of a catch. She also seemed intimidated by him unfortunately, it did stand somewhat to reason she didn't have any combat skills or magic so to her he must seem like a nightmare incarnate. Wolves spawn an almost primal fear in humans and the fact that he had grown so huge that she would barely reach his calf at one point must have been something straight from a nightmare. Not to mention she had already been basically enslaved by magic users so his spiritual powers would add even more to the fear factor. Still he couldn't get her off the head and he knew it wasn't lust, it was... something else. Something hauntingly familiar.

"You really have to try this out Saito!" Louise exclaimed and he chuckled at this. She had a knack for getting caught up in things.

"Alright I'm not above being proven wrong." He said with a slight chuckle at the poor quality of her short term memory. She really was like a homebrewed schoolgirl. He took a lotus position and focused deep into himself allowing his silver white fire of energy fill his whole body in an advanced form of what he had explained to Louise. Gently pushing up and out of his body he looked around a little and as he expected total darkness and silence except a tiny pinprick... Wait. What?

He shot down to whatever it was, it made no sense anything that could use spiritual power would be filled beyond mortal capacity in little to no time at all. Then they'd either go berserk or blow up, but still something other then him had spiritual energy, he had to find out who or what. He shot down his form composed of nothing but silver white fire invisible to anyone without spiritual power. Through walls and woodwork until, air and earth until... _"Siesta?"_ he asked and she gasped staring at his form.

"Oh my goodness!" She exclaimed backing up. She was the only source of light outside of himself and she illuminated the nearby area with a pale blue light that looked like mist was pouring out of, there was a symbol on the back of her neck that had a different light though. It was pure spiritual light the silver white flame that Saito was currently made of, it was in the shape of a crescent moon surrounded by ten stars. A power dump tattoo... _//how the hell did I miss that before?//_ he thought dispelling the Astral Projection and standing up.

"Louise, I think I'll be rather busy the next few days. If you'll excuse me." He said putting a slip of parchment into the book to mark the page and tucking it into a small bag before walking out. She didn't even notice he had spoken or left as she was so enraptured by what she was seeing with her mage sight.

It didn't take him much time to get down towards the kitchens were Siesta was, the cooks dutily ignored him as he walked up to her. She didn't notice until he had a finger on the tattoo on the back of her neck. "So when were you going to tell me that you were a Therian with a tattooed power dump?" he asked carefully.

Author's Notes

Thought I'd leave you in suspense. Don't worry though like in the first part this story will have progressively longer chapters so this is just to get the ball rolling. MY original idea was to have Saito notice a colossal energy source and have it be Kaito his brother being imprisoned and have him go on a huge rescue of him then nearly kill Kaito to vent his feelings of rage for being forced to be all alone thanks to the guy. But it fell through and I also noticed that pretty much no one wanted to meet Kaito in the story so hey, who am I to piss on your hopes?


	2. Failure and Success

First off I want everyone and anyone who is just going to treat this chapter as a standalone portion to stop reading. This is a chapter, one part of a whole but not the whole itself, it can only be seen properly or interpreted properly if you read the whole. I am trying to make this portion and the next one even more immersive into this world, what it means to be a Therian, what it means to be either a Noble or Peasant and what the political ramifications and human reactions to these sorts of things are. (Of course this is under the premise that people have already accepted magic as a tried and true fact of the world.)

As to the pairing it is going to be Louise/Saito period. This is not going to change I like the chemistry these two have. The interaction between Saito and Siesta will be like between family. He has a slight attraction to her yes but it's not going anywhere. Period. You will figure out the reason why it won't work between them, and it is a good one, later.

Please have patience and don't leave unsigned reviews that just discourage me in writing. It's just rude and tells me you don't have the guts to actually 'say something to my face'. So to speak.

"Speech"

//thoughts//

**Supernatural**

Story

She didn't notice until he had a finger on the tattoo on the back of her neck. "So when were you going to tell me that you were a Therian with a tattooed power dump?" he asked carefully.

"What!" Siesta asked spinning around and backing up (painfully) into the counter.

"You're packed full of spiritual energy and it moves inside you in identical patterns to a Therien of the wolf variety much like myself. Were you somehow unaware of this?" Saito asked and she nodded staring at him and he sighed. "That tattoo on your neck. It does the same things my bracers do. They keep you safe from the moonlight."

"What are you talking about? Are you crazy? I'm not like you!" she stammered out only vaguely aware that all conversation in the kitchen had stopped and everyone was listening in.

"That tattoo on the back of your neck is a spiritual power dump. My bracers are also spiritual power dumps the moons pack any being that wields spiritual power beyond the bursting point with energy unless they have a power dump. Your spiritual energy an ability exclusive to Therienthropes my species, mine are pure energy based and yours are ice based. I'm guessing that a Therian stumbled into this world some generations ago and made power dump tattoos in desperation to survive. Stopped using his or her powers thinking it would undo whatever power dump they had and eventually sired either you or one of your ancestors." Saito explained patiently as if she were a child.

"Grandfather Wolf..." Siesta said quietly as if she were thinking out loud.

"With a name like that it sounds accurate. I'm guessing he would occasionally disappear only to reappear a few hours or days later unharmed and probably looking self satisfied." Saito asked and Siesta looked taken aback then her eyes narrowed.

"So all this time he was being faithful..." she said quietly thinking back to the grizzled old man who'd always lived near a lush forest. She was taken out of her thoughts when Saito laughed a bit. She then shook her head. "This has to be a dream, I mean really. Me a monster? Hah!" Siesta said to herself resuming whatever duties she was doing and Saito sighed.

The whole kitchen staff watched as Saito grabbed her around the back of the neck right on the tattoo and his eyes began glowing white causing hers to glow a pale blue. There was an audible wince worthy snapping of bones and sinew as Siesta's form twisted and warped. A few moments later a woman wolf hybrid was standing in Siesta's clothing. It was streamlined and athletic with a voluptuous figure and obviously powerful muscles. Downy fur covered her all over with more shaggy amounts under the clothing in the patterns required to conceal her decency. A perky and curled tail now poked out of the back of her dress.

"You are not a monster you are a Therian a noble form shifter with powers equal to magic. Your grandfather was one and the times he disappeared were when he would rush out for the freedom of simply running as a wolf. There is nothing wrong with being one as it does not make you any less of what you were before. You were always were a Therian you and your family, they have not changed, neither have you. It's a simple fact of your life and blood that you are a form shifter.

"Th-this isn't funny, change me back." Siesta said turning around and staring at him.

"You can change yourself back, it's easy." He assured her.

"No I can't." she protested.

"Yes you can." He said sounding completely reasonable

"No I can't!" she growled

"Are you growling at me?" he asked as an eyebrow rose.

"No I'm not." She protested and Saito inwardly snickered.

"Yes you were." He said finding this too much fun to stop.

"No I wasn't." Siesta said and he laughed out loud.

"Alright enough fun. If you cooperate I can prove one way or another beyond a shadow of a doubt and before everyone here that you are a Therian." Saito claimed pointing at her.

"How? I mean she's been pretty normal her whole life so how can she just be a wolf woman with no practice? Even mages need school." The head cook noted from nearby and Saito grinned at him.

"Auras. If you flare a spiritual or magical aura when near someone you force theirs to show itself. It doesn't work with magic for some reason. I have no idea why." Saito said with a shrug before silver white energy erupted from him like from the heart of a roaring bonfire. It expanded until it collided with Siesta, a small amount went into her then was shot out as a smaller light blue aura that jutted out like crystals erupted from her and the nearby area froze.

"Yep, ice aura. I knew it." Saito said looking smug. Then he caught the look on her… muzzle. //Oh shit, I really got carried away here… (censored)// "I'm sorry, I got excited. Therians find comfort in groups so I jumped the gun." He apologised reaching up and putting a finger to her forehead guiding her energies to shrink her back down to normal. He focused some more energy into her clothes to repair them a skill Therians are taught in grade school and then sighed. "Look take all the time you need to come to grips with this. Come talk to me when you're ready to deal with it. Thanks to that tattoo there is no rush and you can just ignore it till the final curtain if you want. Again, I'm sorry." He said with a slight bow before leaving.

//(Censored) (censored) (censored in wolf) son of a (censored) I'm such a (censored) idiot.// he thought walking across the courtyard mentally berating himself and not paying the least bit of attention to where he was going. Before tripping over something that was burning hot.

"FRAAA!" Flame Kirche's familiar hissed at him and he flicked it right between the nose holes. "Graagh!" it exclaimed rubbing his nose. He stood up glaring at it a little.

"Don't hiss at me tiny." He berated it and it shot a plume of fire at him but he stopped it with one hand and an application of energy. "Look runt I'm not in the mood, so unless you want to be kicked right over the wall I'd suggest you go back to warming Kirche's feet." He said walking away from the steaming lizard.

"Something on your mind?" A girl asked him, it was an unfamiliar voice so Saito breathed deep to get the scent and it instantly told him something.

"Aren't you Tabitha's, why are you naked?" Saito asked the formshifted dragon who shrugged giving a remarkable effect to her full and lineless tanned cleavage.

"Well where would I get clothes from?" Sylphid asked with a slight giggle and Saito groaned.

"Look dragon, from one shapeshifter to another I understand that they can be annoying but a human form has a hard time keeping warm and uninjured, clothing helps with that." Saito exclaimed rubbing back an onrushing headache. This was amateur stuff the dragon would have to be a hatchling not to know this, which really threw off his previous thoughts to her being a fully grown runty species.

"Oh is that what they're for? Neat! I guess they work kinda like scales then hunh?" she asked and the headache gave a pulse at the inane question.

"Yes, yes they do." He said with a groan. "Just how old are you anyways?" he asked and Sylphid put a finger to her bottom lip and looked up thinking.

"About five human years!" she announced with a cheer and he groaned.

//I'm dealing with an infant… lovely.// he thought then blinked. "Has Tabitha bothered to teach you anything?" he asked and she nodded.

"Yea big sister taught me to speak human!" Sylphid said and Saito nodded.

"Good grief. Do you even know how big your species get or anything?" he asked and she shook her head slowly.

"No I hatched all by myself in a forest far from here. I was all alone and only lived like an animal until big sister summoned me. Life became easy after that, from when we first touched I quickly began to learn to understand and talk and it's been great!" she exclaimed.

"Alright um…?" Saito started fishing for her name.

"Sylphid!" she exclaimed.

"I'd suggest working on formshifting some clothing now, otherwise no one will take you seriously and you could offend someone." He suggested.

"Hmm that is a good idea…" Sylphid said taking her earlier thinking pose. Saito just started walking away nowhere near in the mood to deal with this kind of thing. "Okay! I'll see you later!" she shouted joyfully before skipping off much to the joy of all other males present. Okay so Saito enjoyed it too but the smell of dragon was killing any mood he could get into.

"Urg what a day. I totally called it when I realised I had to repeat my lectures earlier. Good grief." He groaned to himself and jumped up onto the wall leaving an impression on the earth beneath him. "Still, there is never a single Therian. If you find one you can find the family, Siesta mentioned a grandfather in the past tense. So the original is likely long dead and buried. But it means that Siesta has a living parent and possibly uncles or aunts or siblings all with Theirian blood." He said to himself as he took a lotus position again and filled himself with spiritual energy.

_"Alright then. Let's do this."_ He said and shot forwards quickly and just as he guessed he eventually spotted streaks of light like you'd get entering warp speed on Star Trek. He shot towards them and came to a pinpoint stop nearby.

"Trés Bien Jessica! With zat reservation out of the way we can get back in business within the hour!" An effeminate yet male voice announced with badly faked French getting Saito to gag a little. This was going to be bad. It was just a hazy outline, but it showed the most disturbingly effeminate, gender confused bodybuilder he had ever seen.

_//Should I just run? For my dignity if nothing else?//_ Saito wondered just as Scarron the incredibly disturbing (or is it disturbed?) man, complete with a Maid outfit noticed him. _//I cannot believe that this is a wolf…//_

"And what is this? Jessica! It appears we have a guest!" he exclaimed clapping his hands together and making kissing motions in his direction while wiggling in a way that would be appealing if immature on a woman but was nightmarish on a man.

"Oh my! Are you a ghost sir?" A female voice said behind him and Saito turned halfway wary of putting his rear astral or not in the direction of the obviously raging homosexual. He saw what looked a little like Siesta with the shape of the face and colouration but she had longer hair and her eyes were slightly larger and more expressive.

_"No I am an astral projection it's basically that I've sent my soul out of my body to look for things."_ Saito explained and she nodded it made sense to her.

"So what can I do for you sir? We're closed at the moment for cleaning so it must be quick." She explained.

"Oh! The reputation of our beautiful Inn must have travelled far if Nobles use such magic just to view it. Oh! It brings a tear to my eye!" Scarron exclaimed breaking into tears.

_"Not exactly both of you mister um…?" _Saito began but Scarron started wagging a finger at him.

"Cet Madmoiselle Scarron." Scarron exclaimed getting Saito to double blink despite his current lack of eyelids at the sheer absurdity. "And this! Is my beautiful daughter Jessica!" he said surprising Saito with the fact that this man had actually procreated.

_"Okay umm…" _Saito began really off balance around this strange man. _"I'm an… acquaintance of a maid named Siesta and she mentioned a grandfather that went by the nickname Wolf. Are you also related to that man?"_ he asked trying to go slowly this time.

"Mes oui! Little Siesta is my adorable niece and Wolf was unfortunately my father's name." Scarron explained his tone and accent dropping away to normal levels when he brought up his father. This surprised Saito and got him thinking that Scarron's behaviour wasn't totally genuine.

_"I am investigating this man I believe he is key to a very powerful legacy that now lies sleeping within his blood and those who carry it." _Saito explained dodging around the point determined to take it slowly to avoid the mistakes he had made with Siesta. Scarron sighed and slumped looking like the weight of the world had fallen on his shoulders.

"Can you wait a minute Milord? I need to calm down and get comfortable before talking about my father." Scarron explained spitting the word father out like it was poison.

_"Sure take your time."_ Saito said and the large man walked away and out of sight. There was a rush of air and a slight curse behind him. _"Did you just try to slap me?" _ he asked Jessica who glared at him.

"You have a lot of nerve bringing up that cheating Wolf noble or not." She said in a huff.

_"And if I had proof that he wasn't cheating and was doing something different when he disappeared?" _Saito asked and she took a slight step back.

"Then I'd want to see it." She replied.

_"Sure I guess but you'd have to bring it out as my body isn't here currently_." Saito said with a shrug confusing her.

"Alright noble. Just what do you want to know about that cheating bastard?" Scarron asked walking back in with a housecoat on that covered the maid outfit sans the hat which he had taken off and he had the look as if he had quickly washed a great deal of makeup off. He grabbed a bottle of wine and wrenched out the cork unaided before taking a swig.

"Careful father that's a really hard brand!" Jessica exclaimed with some worry.

_"Your father would disappear because he had a fairly unique power he liked to toy with; I have the same type of power. He would look self satisfied because it would be a rush to use the power. It also gave him numerous instincts such as faithfulness and jumpy reflexes."_ Saito stated knowing he was coming on strong but if this guy was going to hit the booze as his first response then he needed to be broken from that pattern ASAP.

"And what does this have to do with me? He ran away thirty years ago, left us to die while he probably went gallivanting off." Scarron said bitterly. "Wait, did you say he had a power? He was a noble?"

_"Not exactly, I'm just guessing mostly in the dark here but he was what was called a Therianthrope. He had a unique type of magic and could turn into a wolf. I myself am also a wolf Therianthrope. We don't come from this world, it's dangerous to us things like moons fill us full of energy and since there are two so close all the time we run the risk of dying from having too much power to live with. The tattoo's you all wear are likely a family tradition he started and claimed it was older than him. They protect you by forcing the extra power out."_ Saito explained.

"Are you mad?" Scarron asked clearly sceptical while Jessica was strangely quiet.

_"I can prove it i…"_ Saito began.

"How? This had better be good too." Scarron interrupted.

_"It is, you see you are proof yourself. The main power of a Therian, the transformation is very, very easy to learn. If you are willing to listen you can find out the truth of your father."_ Saito explained and Scarron sighed while motioning for him to get on with it. _"First close your eyes and picture three candles in your mind. Completely the same, except the one the most to the left is lit. Now imagine that that flame goes out at the same time that the right most candle lights up on its own." _Saito explained guiding him and Jessica stifled a gasp as Scarron shrunk downwards with the sound of snapping bones and muscles that he obviously couldn't hear or feel. His body rearranged itself and fur grew out of everywhere as his face stretched forwards into a muzzle. During this time Saito formshifted his astral self and made it into a wolf made of silver white energy that sat down in front of the altered Scarron. _"You can open your eyes now."_

"What in the! Did you do this to me?" Scarron demanded his ears flattening and broadcasting his anger.

_"Nope! You did, you can undo it too by visualising the flame going back to the first candle, or even play around by putting on the middle one."_ Saito explained and Scarron quickly changed back, out of his clothing and Saito quickly covered his eyes with his paw. _"Good grief man! Some warning would be nice! Need I remind you I am currently standing just below the level of that thing?" _ He berated the man who quickly pulled up on the housecoat and tied the sash hard to keep himself decent.

"Sorry. So… can everyone in my family do that?" Scarron asked a little amazed.

_"Everyone related to Wolf can shapeshift and more with practice but stick to shapeshifting for now." _Saito advised and Scarron nodded a little. _"You might want to cork that bottle by the way. I doubt you'll be drinking from it further."_ He observed.

"Wait. Before you go… why do you think Grandfather didn't tell us about what he was?" Jessica asked and Saito paused.

_ "He was probably afraid that you'd think of him as a monster. Losing your family or friends… to a Therian it's like your soul shattering. And the pain never, ever goes away." _ Saito explained briefly remembering his family. _"Take care you two."_ He said and willingly dissolved his astral form which caused him to rush back into his body and jerk back with a gasp. This also scared off the birds which had rested on and around him.

"Oh those (censored) stupid birds!" he half shouted brushing himself off vigorously. "Well at least it hasn't been a total train wreck today. Scarron and Jessica seem reasonable, if a little off. Hopefully Siesta will come around but that could take a while and with the way the rumour mills run around here she may not have the time." //Still there was something familiar in both Scarron and Jessica and it wasn't that they were Therians or even wolves… it was something else, but what?//

Author's Notes

Please as I said before do not judge things as a standalone portion. Would you just read chapter one of Harry Potter and Judge the whole book on it? No. You wouldn't so don't do it here.


	3. Political Ramifications

Alright in this chapter we explore just what is actually going to go wrong and bring in our second villain.

"Speech"

/thoughts/

_Ethereal stuff_

Wolf Tongue (Saito doesn't use it often because in human form it's hard on the throat. You try growling at different tones for a few minutes.)

**Supernatural Stuff**

The Story!

Saito was whistling slightly to himself despite the disheartening information in front of him. He had roughly five history books open to various area's detailing when new Noble families or Scientific or magical discoveries were made and taking notes in kanji so no one else could read his thoughts. He entertained the thought of a journal but dropped the idea.

"Partner you've been diving through the books and writing in that weird chicken scratch for the last five hours, what the hell is so important?" Derflinger asked curiously from his position propped up against the side of the table.

"There are more of my people here Der, at least three other Therians. I'm trying to find some way to peacefully integrate them into this world so that they can use their powers in the open without fear of retribution or ostracization." Saito explained quickly going through his notes.

"Hunh?" the sword asked and he rolled his eyes good naturedly.

"Without people attacking them like monsters or out casting them, problem is that this world like my own doesn't handle change well. Numerous families that developed magic were put through the ringer before being accepted by other mages, whenever a new culture is discovered war is almost certain especially if the languages are different. The current state of peace is such a rarity that it is almost unprecedented in this world and war threatens to boil up again at any moment. Any major discovery with magic or science in any way shape or form is instantly challenged and practically slaughtered by traditionalists and money grubbers. Frankly I can't see Therians peacefully integrating into this world." Saito explained going through his notes again and sighing while slumping down into a nearby armchair absently turning his bracers around a little so they'd stop itching.

"How was it done on your world then? Just do the same deal." Derflinger offered and was confused when Saito chuckled.

"Der what happened on my world was nothing short of a freaking miracle. A kid with some high end political connections befriended a Therian in hawk form and over a couple months taught him the tongue of humans which allowed the Therian then the kid in turn to plead the case to the child's friend or father or whichever. History didn't record it all too well unfortunately, heck we're not even totally sure on the child's name or gender because the time right after was really, really confusing so much was done that nothing was kept track of." Saito explained and Der laughed a bit at that.

"Oh hah, hah. Yuck it up rusty." Saito snapped getting an indignant 'Hey!' from the sword.

"So what would you need?" Derflinger asked a few minutes later.

"Pardon?" Saito asked a little out of it. He was hoping to drift off to a nap before continuing.

"You know to get your kind accepted into this world." The sword elaborated.

"Well let's see, I'd need a friend in very high places to place legislation favourable to my people and properly introduce the concept of my species. I'd need a figurehead for the race to present the best possible front, I'd have to show extreme power and nobility as well as control for the people around here but even if I had all that it can all still easily go downhill. There is just so much that can and in all likelihood will go wrong that will get the few Therians that are here lynched." Saito said in a bit of a panic.

"Whoa! Slow down partner! Remember miracles do happen! Maybe one will happen for you." He said and Saito snorted.

"I'd rather have events in my favour over relying of a miracle or some nonsense such as that. I want the end result to be inevitable not incredible." Saito said calmly.

"Well how would you pull that off?" Derflinger asked.

"The way I see it there are two ways, one we have the Therian's lie low for a few generations slowly but surely making it so that one of our kind is a novelty over a rarity, this could easily be derailed though and Therians could become hunted and haunted refugees in their own homelands very, very easily. Two is that we go public ASAP and play up the benefits as much as possible to make ourselves into some sort of hero figure. I don't know there just doesn't seem to be any real way to get this done. We'd need some sort of high end disaster that could only be foiled by something with the unique power of a Therian." Saito groaned to himself shaking his head a little.

"Why not start rumours and stuff? You know make your kind something of legend or the like." Derflinger offered but Saito shook his head.

"No that could turn against me way, way too easily. It would probably take all of twelve seconds for any story involving my kind to become a horror story with the Therian being some sort of bloodthirsty monster." Saito said with a sigh to which Derflinger gave the damndest impression of shrugging.

"Well I don't really know what to suggest then. Besides all I really know is a smattering of history and the arts of war myself." Derflinger said and Saito nodded at this.

"Still, despite everything in my way which includes human nature. There are a couple of wild cards. We have Louise on our side and Void Mages are the ultimate wild card commanding both great respect and great fear. She is a noble whom also has certain political connotations and connections which could allow us more liberty. Furthermore, everyone is mistaking a Therian for a unique type of magic user. Officially I have become a noble myself however I do not possess any lands, parliamentary powers or duties nor any connections. This can also used to advantage in which we disguise Spiritual power as some type of 'Lunar Magic' where instead of summoning a familiar you become your own familiar. This however leaves a bitter taste in my mouth despite it being the most likely and least dangerous route." Saito said offhandedly.

"Why the bitter taste?" Derflinger asked curiously.

"Pride mostly. I come from a proud, honourable, and ancient species that through song and story has preserved our history for nearly eight thousand years. I can tell you historical names and events from before when the humans of my world truly came into any sort of stride culture wise. It's a raw primal power that courses through me and simply calling it magic… just saying it's the exact same as what the human's do but with one or two changes… it doesn't feel right. It's so different from magic I don't know where to start. If anything magic has been mimicking spiritual power." Saito said with a small sneer but he swallowed it quickly remembering what mages were or rather would be capable of.

"Is it the same?" Derflinger asked and Saito shook his head.

"No, it is very different. Magic is about changing the world around you with pure energy of will. Words, wands and gestures just help focus the will the way you want it to be. Spiritual power is the ultimate expression of the self. It's all about knowing what you are at the most basic core level, finding out all its tiny components and then expanding and bending those components which will bend the world around you outside. In other words, Magic focuses outwards and Spiritual Power focuses inwards." Saito said running a hand through his hair.

"So how's your spirit stuff used?" Der asked.

"You know about meditation right?" Saito asked getting a 'yup' from Derflinger. "Spiritual power is used like that. Once you can really find it you can grab onto it and form and mould it like clay. This gives it shape, you then have to change it usually though a visualization with that you visualize what it's going to do, grab the energy and hurl it causing it to act in the way you wanted it too. Sunlight amplifies it a little and moonlight amplifies it by a lot so small effects will feed off that energy and get stronger after you have thrown them. Since I've worked on control most of my life I get the added perk of being able to control it after it's left my body, but it's like guiding a boat with a rope. You can only do so much it's mostly up to the currents." Saito explained.

"So that's how your powers are used?"Louise asked and Saito jumped in shock.

"GYA! I didn't even hear you coming, how did you sneak up on me!" Saito demanded wide eyed, Louise giggled. Yes, giggled.

"Mr. Colbert found an old book on Void Magic. It's small, and only has a few spells in it." She said a little dejectedly pulling out a small leather bound book the size of a paperback novel. "But it has some good stuff in here! And one of the easiest to use is an invisibility spell for stealth. It blocks sound too." Louise boasted with no small amount of pride in her voice. Saito smirked at this, as she grew in magical power her arrogance actually went down as her self esteem went up. It was rather interesting in fact.

"Remind me to keep my nose open then." He said grinning and she stuck her tongue out at him before turning to glance at what he was working on.

"Why all the political history? I never took you as the politician type." Louise asked and Saito sighed.

"There are more Therians here, wolf types like me. Siesta is one of them and her uncle and cousin in the capital are the other two. The problem is that with the lunar power so prominent in this world nothing short of mass murder will stop a sizable Therian population from growing from just us four." Saito explained and Louise stared at him as if trying to figure out if he was lying or not.

"What? But don't the moons force energy into you? I mean a dangerous amount?" Louise asked and Saito nodded.

"That's the part that really has me confused. It tells me that this isn't natural meaning they had to have come from my world or at least one like it. From what I can get it started with Siesta's Grandfather who was called Wolf. Apparently he would disappear at nights for hours on end. They suspected infidelity, but to me it points to moonlight hunts for meat. No matter what I act like there is still an animal in me and the thrill of the hunt is a heady experience. The poor old devil must have been going crazy with worry before he died worried his wife would leave him if she found out what he was." Saito said a little sadly.

"Are you sure he's dead?" Louise asked and Saito nodded.

"I've looked and Siesta, Scarron and Jessica are the only other beings with spiritual energy on this world. If there was even a shred of life in Wolf's body he'd have at least a glimmer of spiritual power to go with it. He was probably killed by a hunter at night for his pelt. His family mostly believes or believed that he ran away to be with some younger woman." Saito said sadly. "There are ways to hide it but he'd have to be in a silver cage and have almost nothing in spiritual power due to constant draining on top of being in near total darkness as well."

"That's terrible." Louise said knowing how important it is for many people to be remembered in a good light.

"It is. Fortunately, regardless of what he is remembered as he has left an incredible legacy. Therians with tattooed power dumps. They don't need the bracers like I do. From day one they're perfectly safe from power overload. It's actually a brilliant but simple piece of work. It's easy to make, easier to use and very, very effective, practically art in itself." Saito explained and Louise nodded it mostly made sense to her.

"That's a lot to go through, and here I thought my life was hard with just an arranged marriage to an older man. Makes you feel good to see someone else in a worse position." Louise noted.

"Arranged Marriage to an older man?" Saito asked blindsided by this.

"Yes, Ward. He's actually coming to visit later today." Louise said remembering how he had been so encouraging when she was younger.

"Well thanks for the heads up." Saito said his tone drenched in sarcasm.

"You're welcome." Louise replied missing it completely.

"So when is he showing up." He asked raising an eyebrow as he noticed he was growling.

"In a little bit. I actually came to get you so you could meet him." Louise said and Saito inwardly groaned.

Oh great, I can feel my own hormones peaking. We're a month away from mating season and this happens! he snarled to himself.

"Uhm Partner? What was that about?" Derlinger asked as Louise looked at him strangely.

"Nothing, just clearing my throat." Saito responded and stretched a little. "Think I can take out all these books at the same time?" he asked knowing the answer from the look the head librarian shot at him all the way from the front desk and through three asymmetrical gaps in the bookcase by way of reflective bindings and still managing to be intimidating. "Nevermind." He said sweat dropping nervously as both Louise and Derflinger noticed the glare just before it ended.

"Damn that woman's a piece of work…" The sword noted getting a nod from Saito and Louise.

"She certainly is… I don't think she let's anyone take anything out." Louise said.

"Then how does she keep her job?" Saito asked.

"She maintains and catalogues the books very, very well." Louise supplied.

"Ah. That would do it. It would also explain why she's hissing down my neck most days I'm in here." Saito noted as he stacked the books back up having memorized their contents for the most part. "So just when is your fiancé going to show up? And just who is he anyways?"

"Well his name is Ward, a very skilled mage and swordsman on top of being the captain of the Griffon Knights." Louise says in a bit of a daze.

"Just how old is he?" Saito questions getting a very creepy picture of Louise marrying an older man, he knew it happened around this timeframe but it didn't make it any less creepy.

"Thirty four." Louise said simply and Saito shuddered.

"Okay, just… eww." Saito said his face a picture of disgust.

"What was that!" Louise demanded.

"A fourteen year old girl with a thirty four year old man doesn't send off any alarm bells in your mind?" Saito asked seriously.

"Now listen here!" Louise started but Saito put a hand over her mouth.

"I've been looking through the history of many families and the formation of this country and I can assure you the pairing between yourself and Ward could only have been legal in any way shape or form if you were selected at such a young age that you could barely understand what marriage was at the time. This means that it can't be beneficial towards yourself in any way shape or form, doubly so due to you being a void mage, doubled again by your massive mana reserves, and doubled at least once more since he is in such a position of power. When the circumstances of things such as this are this incredible then it has been contrived. Meaning someone is planning something, and with you being a void mage, it's something big." Saito lectured then sighed when he saw the look in her eyes that basically told him it was all bouncing off. -/Oh brother…/-

"You'll see! He's amazing, he supported me whenever I was down." Louise said dreamily.

"Oh you mean that he supported you when you were teased and helped you puzzle out how to use magic in your own unique way?" Saito asked.

"Exactly!"

"That was me Louise." Saito replied with a bit of a sigh.

"Oh uh… oops." Louise muttered getting Saito to grin.

"So when's he arriving?" He asked casually.

"It should be sometime soon actually…" Louise said tapering off as Saito glanced out the window.

"So that man with the floppy hat, cloak and riding a four course meal through the sky could be him?" Saito asked and Louise rushed to the window then rushed out.

"Yep that's him." Saito noted as he took out a piece of parchment and using a quill and inkwell noted down which books he hadn't finished and put to memory and where he was in them. He trusted his memory but liked to have a bit of insurance. He quickly closed them up and stacked them neatly before grabbing Der and slinging the silver blade onto his back. Over the hilt he threw a student's cloak on which was a part of his disguise as a maverick mage.

He casually opened the window and jumped down eight stories using his spiritual energy to reinforce his body so that he took no damage. Louise brushed by him and he blinked. "What the? Someone's excited." He noted as she rushed off to meet him. -/Keep calm, keep your instincts down boy for all you know he's a saint and has done everything to deserve her… then why go to the Lolita with the world's worst track record?/-

"Louise, it is good to see you again." The man said revealing himself to be a greyed slightly wrinkled man he had a robust voice and from the way he filled out his clothing it was obvious he was very strong. But he wasn't aging well. Saito immediately noticed that his sword also doubled as a wand. A fairly smart tactic, draw both weapons at once as it were. The wind shifted slightly and his mount became agitated at the scent of a predator.

"Airazor! Down girl! Down! It's alright there, nothing will hurt you." He said soothing the normally fierce and proud animal.

"That remains to be seen." Saito said calmly.

"And what would harming my steed give you?" Ward asked coldly.

"A feast." Saito replied calmly using a little bit of spiritual energy to cause his eyes to glow and canines to lengthen.

"Ah so you're the wolf magician everyone's been talking about? I hear you single handily took out Fouquet of the Crumbling Dirt. A fair accomplishment." Ward said with hostility barely hidden. Louise thought it was because of Saito's remarks about Airazor but Saito had other suspicions.

"Not really, she like many people think bigger means better. All her golems are is clumps of dirt that a child could tear apart. Not exactly a grand accomplishment to defeat that now is it?" Saito asked and Ward's eyes narrowed. -/Yep, he's familiar with Fouquet. I'd say that proves my suspicions, but it won't prove it to anyone else./- he thought.

"Indeed. Now if you'll excuse me." Ward said with a slight snarl before walking away for some kind of business. Saito grabbed Louise's arm before she could leave.

"What?" she asked genuinely confused.

"I think he's a collaborator with Fouquet, did you notice how angry he got when I mocked her?" he asked then the wind shifted causing him to subconsciously growl. "And he reeks of her as well, and not in the interrogation way."

"What are you saying?" She hissed at him.

"He &%^$ed Fouquet and not metaphorically, literally." Saito said and was slapped. Louise glared at him with a hurt look before walking off. -/Hormones. I see I'm not the only poor fool affected by them./- he thought while heaving a sigh.

"This day just got infinitely more complicated." He noted to himself with resignation. -/And yet… infinitely more fun./- "This provides more options. If I can reveal traitors and perhaps prevent war I can easily swing public opinion in favour of Therians." Saito mused to himself.

"You!" A voice half shouted from behind him and Siesta marched up to him looking absolutely pissed.

"Partner. It's been nice knowing ya." Derflinger said and Saito chuckled.

"Can I help you pup?" he asked and she glared at him.

"What did you do to me? I've never been like this before and now I can't help but do weird things! How do I undo them?" Siesta demanded and Saito raised an eyebrow.

"You have to focus. Concentrate on what it feels like and guide it in the way you want it to move. It is just another part of your body after all." He said calmly and she fixed him with a glare before closing her eyes and focusing. A small bulge he had barely noticed before vanished and he chuckled. "You think a tail's bad with a dress? Try it with a pair of pants."

"Look I'm sorry it's just… I can't accept this! I've lived my whole life thinking that what I'm doing now with good food and a comfy bed would be about as high as I can get and now I. Now I'm… I'm...!" she started looking like she was about to scream.

"Look, I didn't do anything to you. I can't have done this. It's in your blood and it was in there before I came, and if something were to happen to me that would end my life it would be there when I'm gone as well. It's going to be in your children too and their children as well." He explained and she glared at him before walking off saying she had to help prepare dinner. "Why do I always say the wrong thing around her?"

"Bad karma?" Derflinger suggested and Saito heaved a sigh.

"Bleh. Probably some self destructive instinct. Her scent just gets my hackles up; don't know why, she's a nice girl and taking this fairly well considering." He said waving a hand as if stirring around his thoughts with it.

"Let's stay focused. Ward is up to something, and if she wasn't blinded by her adoration Louise would see it too." Der said and Saito nodded soberly then raised an eyebrow and huffed.

"You know I should be feeling intimidated or something but all I got is excitement. This is gonna be big and you know what? I'm getting goose bumps." He said with a fanged grin and Derflinger started to laugh. "Hey when opportunity knocks answer the door right?" he protested and the sword laughed even harder.

Authors Notes... none you've read my excuses and I've pumped enough foreshadowing in here to the point of bursting. I am trying to figure out if Fouquet will have the guts to face him again and I'm flipping coins and rolling dice about other plot points but I have a general idea about what to do and it's starting to come together.

By the way you guys can review if you want I didn't mean to scare people off from doing so sorry.


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